Tuesday, July 9, 2019

poniard \PON-yerd\, noun:

1. a small, slender dagger.

verb:

1. to stab with a poniard.

Poniard entered English in the 1500s and ultimately comes from the Latin pungus meaning "fist." The Old French word poignal literally refers to something held by the fist.

 

greeting orbit

• When you're with someone and run into an acquaintance of his/hers. They exchange greetings, which leads to a conversation, and you stand there smiling like a dummy wondering if you'll ever be introduced.

We strolled through the crowd arm in arm, she knowing everyone and stopping to chat - me knowing nobody and in perpetual greeting orbit.

 

Trivia 
What triggered the first recorded student protest in U.S. history?

• Sour butter served in Harvard University’s dining rooms in 1766. The protest, known as the Great Butter Rebellion, resulted in the suspension of half the student body and lasted a month. Years later, the protest leader, student Asa Dunbar, would be the grandfather of Henry David Thoreau.

History

• Wimbledon: the precursor to the tennis tournament first began; only Gentlemen's Singles was played (1877)
• cross of gold: William Jennings Bryan delivered a speech to the Democratic National Convention supporting bimetallism, advocating a silver standard in addition to the gold standard (1896)
• Johnny Weissmuller: swam 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds, thus breaking the minute barrier (1922)
• Grateful Dead: psychedelic rock-country-jazz band played its last concert, a month before the death of lead singer Jerry Garcia (1995)
• Midsummer Classic: MLB All-Star game ended in a tie after 11 innings; both sides had run out of pitchers (2002)

Birthdays

• Ann Radcliffe 1764
• Elias Howe 1819

  
• Ottorino Respighi 1879
• Clara Bow 1907 - Actress (Down to the Sea in Ships, The Plastic Age)
• Harold C. Fox 1910
• Leonard Pennario 1924
• Red Kelly 1927
• Ed Ames 1927 - Actor, musician (The Ames Brothers)
• Lee Hazlewood 1929
• Jesse McReynolds 1929
• June Jordan 1936
• James Hampton 1936
• Brian Dennehy 1938 - Actor
• Richard Roundtree 1942 - Actor
• Dean Koontz 1945 - Author
• Bon Scott (AC/DC) 1946
• O.J. Simpson 1947 - Football player, actor, murderer
• Chris Cooper 1951 - Actor
• John Tesh 1952 - Musician, television personality
• David Ball 1953
• Debbie Sledge 1954 - Musician (Sister Sledge)
  Fred Leo Nukis (Eric Fred Norris) 1955 Stern Show
• Tom Hanks 1956 - Actor
• Kelly McGillis 1957 - Actress
• Jimmy Smits 1958 - Actor
• Jim Kerr 1959 - Musician (Simple Minds)
• Marc Almond 1959 - Musician (Soft Cell)
• Courtney Love 1964 - Musician (Hole)
• Frank Bello 1965 - Musician (Anthrax)
• Scott Grimes 1971 - Actor
• Enrique Murciano 1973 - Actor ("Without a Trace")
• Jack White 1975 - Musician (White Stripes)
• Fred Savage 1976 - Actor ("The Wonder Years")
  Linda Park 1978 - Actress ("Star Trek: Enterprise")